Smt Maneka Gandhi, a multi-faceted personality, is the Union Minister for Women and Child Development Apart from being a politician, she is passionate about animal rights and is also an environmentalist. Maneka Gandhi graduated from Delhi's Lady Shri Ram College. It was the sudden death of her husband, Sanjay Gandhi that prompted Maneka Gandhi to enter politics. Maneka who entered the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1989 on a Janata Dal ticket was appointed Minister of state with independent charge for environment and forests in the VP Singh government. While she has been elected to Parliament seven times, this is her fourth stint as a union minister. She joined the BJP in 2004.

As part of her love and support for animals, she started People for Animals the largest organisation for animal rights/welfare in India in 1992.